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Pruning lavender

leeali86leeali86 Posts: 75
in Problem solving
Should I be pruning this lavender as the flowers have dried and faded and if so do I dead head them all? Thanks in advance. 

Posts

  • cornellycornelly Posts: 970
    Yes, I cut ours back to the leaves.
  • amancalledgeorgeamancalledgeorge Posts: 2,736
    Looks really sparse and chlorotic...maybe also time to improve its cultivation conditions as it's not happy. 
    To Plant a Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Agree with @amancalledgeorge Once you remove the flower heads, it doesn't appear to have much left.
    If you remove the chunky gravel and re pot using the appropriate fresh medium, a good watering and with any luck you should see new growth starting from the base.  Ensure the container has adequate drainage too.  
  • leeali86leeali86 Posts: 75
    It had a bad winter 2 years ago which it hasn’t really recovered from,  I was going to move this to my garden is this advisable? and any advice on where it should go? I have a south facing garden with a little shade at the back this was a pic of it 2 years ago.
  • bcpathomebcpathome Posts: 1,313
    They like the sunshine ,just cut it back to where the leaves begin and repot it into ericaceous soil or garden soil with ericaceous mixed in water it in and it’ll be fine .
  • philippasmith2philippasmith2 Posts: 3,742
    Lavenders, like many other Mediterranean type plants, like a sunny aspect and thrive in well drained "gritty" soil.
    Most types are hardy in many parts of the UK and if pruned correctly and given the correct care, they can certainly go on for a good few years.  However,in the average garden it is often the case that they lose their vigour after 3 or 4 years and need replacing.
    You can always take cuttings to allow for this.
    In it's current state, you may have to start again but as with anything related to gardening, it's always worth trying and seeing what happens :)
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    leeali86 said:
    It had a bad winter 2 years ago which it hasn’t really recovered from,  I was going to move this to my garden is this advisable? and any advice on where it should go? I have a south facing garden with a little shade at the back this was a pic of it 2 years ago.

    Is it still in the same container and same compost from two year ago? If it is, the poor thing's probably root-bound and starving. They like good drainage but they do need some nutrition and it will have exhausted all the goodness if it's still in the original compost.
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Lavender doesn't really like ericaceous soil. It likes well drained soil, not clay. My lavender hedge in SW France did very well on alkali soil in sun, rarely watered, but you do need to water it when it's in a pot.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Neutral to alkaline for most of them. Some can take a little acidity, and the stoechas ones prefer acidity.
    I'd agree with @JennyJ - it needs a bit of help if it's had no soil change etc in all that time. Totally different from growing in the ground, and as @Busy-Lizzie says, they must be watered when in pots. 
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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